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In This Issue
Volunteers Wanted Here's a great volunteer opportunity for fans of the Gaylord Building. We're looking for people to help staff the front desk. Its a great opportunity to share your love of this historic site with visitors. Hours are flexible. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Pat Chinderle, 815.588.1100, or pchinderle@canalcor.org.
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Are You a Member? Are you a member of Canal Corridor Association? If not, consider joining today. Memberships begin at just $35 per year, with discounts for multi-year memberships. Your gift will both provide fun CCA member benefits AND help build an exciting future for a region that brings to life a rich and vibrant past. Membership forms are available online.
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Send Us Your News! If you have an event, activity or brief news item you would like to see in eNews, please email us at enews@canalcor.org.
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Canal Corridor Association is a membership organization that preserves history, protects nature and open space, and creates destinations where people can learn and have fun in the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, from Lake Michigan in Chicago to the Illinois River in LaSalle/Peru. It enhances, raises awareness of and expands the parks, trails, landscape and historic sites that make the I&M Canal region a special place. CCA manages the Gaylord Building, a National Trust Historic Site, in Lockport, Illinois. One of the oldest industrial buildings in the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, the Gaylord Building is a model of adaptive reuse, featuring the Public Landing restaurant, canal exhibits and more. |
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CCA President's Note
Dear Friends, Fall is officially here (even if it doesn’t feel like it) and there are many events in the Heritage Corridor. The 17th Annual I&M Canal Rendezvous and the 57th Annual Grundy County Corn Festival both were tons of fun but there is plenty left to do in the warm or maybe even cool weather this fall. A few events are highlighted in this eNews and more are on our website (see below). The Canal Corridor Association is hosting the second Gaylord Building Dinner/Lecture of the fall season this Thursday night October 6 with a musical performance by Lee Murdock. Come join us. Details are below. If you can come to Lockport early on Thursday you can stroll along the canal and through the Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery’s new show titled Think Small! Think Small! is a thirty-five artist invitational exhibition that examines the issue of producing small-scale contemporary art works. The exhibit is open until 5 PM. For more information, call them at 815-838-7400. So much to enjoy. Hope to see you in the corridor this fall, Sincerely , Ana B. Koval President & CEO
Canal Fact
Even slow marathoners run twice as fast as mules, but they don't have to pull 100 tons and a canal boat. The trip from Chicago to LaSalle took packets from 22-26 hours. Come Hear Balladeer Lee Murdock Thursday Night October 6th Shipwrecks and ghosts, sailors
and fishermen, lighthouse keepers, outlaws and everyday heroes are the
stuff of songs by balladeer Lee Murdock. Mr. Murdock will bring his
musical storytelling to the Gaylord Building Historic Site, 200 W. 8th
St., Lockport, when he presents “Songs of the Great Lakes Region.” The
performance, which is part of the Gaylord Building Dinner & Lecture
series presented by the Canal Corridor Association, will take place
Thursday, October 6. Mr. Murdock is fluent on six-string and 12-string guitar, and combines ragtime, Irish, blues and folk styles as he paints musical images of life on the Great Lakes. The Chicago-area musician has been performing for some 30 years and has recorded 12 CDs of folk and maritime music. He tours internationally year-round. The event begins with a cash bar reception at 6 pm, followed by dinner and the presentation at 6:45 pm. Guests can choose from grilled pork tenderloin with tequila lime sauce, au gratin potatoes and vegetable medley or potato-encrusted tilapia with wild rice blend and seasonal vegetables. Dessert is peach cobbler. The cost of the Dinner & Lecture is $25 for Canal Corridor Association (CCA) members and $30 for non-members. Reservations are required; call 815-588-1100. The Start of Chicago's Maritime History - The I&M Canal by Ron Vasile Few today think of the Illinois and Michigan Canal when considering Chicago’s maritime history, yet the canal is arguably one of the most important stories in Illinois history. The idea for the canal goes back to the first European explorers to the Midwest. In 1674 Louis Jolliet wrote that a short canal at Chicago would connect the waters of Lake Michigan with those of the Illinois River, and ultimately with the Mississippi River. It took over 150 years before Jolliet’s dream became a reality. Since the birth of the new nation, American leaders had recognized the urgent need for a network of “internal improvements” to ease the problem of continental transportation. The success of the Erie Canal, completed in 1825, marked a period of intensive canal building in the U. S. Indeed, the years from 1790-1850 have been characterized as the Canal era. This chapter in our nation’s history has been largely overlooked, as most historians have focused on the railroads as the prime force behind America’s development. Construction of the I&M Canal and the sale of canal lands brought thousands of people streaming into northeastern Illinois in the mid to late 1830s, and those who braved the hazards of this frontier outpost quickly realized the necessity of improving transportation. Contemporary accounts of stagecoach travel emphasize the perils and discomforts of traversing rutted paths that passed for roads. Much of the region consisted of wet prairie, and spring rains and melting snow turned the trails into impassable quagmires. In 1847 a reporter took a trip by stagecoach along the route of the soon to be completed I&M Canal. He noted that the ride “was as uncomfortable as any enemy, if we had one, could desire. We made progress at the rate of less than three miles an hour; the weather was intensely hot; and not a breath of air was stirring; the horses and carriage raised any quantity of dust, which, of course, rose only high enough to fill the carriage." Another traveler noted that a long stagecoach ride “left one more dead than alive.” Water-borne travel promised a new level of comfort and convenience. Thus, few events in Chicago’s history were more eagerly anticipated than the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The most massive public works project ever attempted in the young state of Illinois, digging began on the 4th of July in 1836. Many hoped the canal could be completed in a few years, but in 1837 the nation suffered its first major Depression, and by 1840 Illinois teetered towards bankruptcy. Work on the canal largely ceased until New York, English, and French investors ponied up $1.6 million to jump start the stalled project in 1845. It took twelve years of on again, off again labor to construct the canal, but the 96 mile long waterway, running from Bridgeport (then a suburb of Chicago) to LaSalle, finally opened in April of 1848. Largely overlooked, however, is the fact that for the first five years of its existence the I&M also served as a means of travel for thousands of passengers.... (for the complete article and footnotes go www.canalcor.org/CCA2005/alngcnl.html ) |
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Upcoming Events Here is a sampling of events happening in the corridor. For a more complete listing of summer events, visit the eNews Calendar. Don't see your event listed here? Please send it to enews@canalcor.org. Thursday, October 6 - Gaylord Building Dinner & Lecture, Lockport See above article for further information. Saturday, October 9 - Burgoo Festival, Utica LaSalle County Historical Society's Annual Burgoo Festival! This festival features an old pioneer dish called "Burgoo Stew", as well as pork burgers, steak sandwiches and homemade pies. Stroll the main streets of Utica for a day of shopping and fun. Located in downtown Utica. The event is from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Call 815-667-4861 for more information.
Month of October, Dollinger Pumpkin Farm, Minooka Find your Perfect Pumpkin at the Dollinger Pumpkin Farm! Check out the Corn Maze, as well as our Haunted Barn, Petting Zoo, and other great attractions for KIDS of all ages. They have a miniature steam train, horse drawn hayrides and Pumpkins! See www.dollingerfarms.com/pumpkins.htm for more information.
Saturday & Sunday, October 15-16, Civil War Days Reenactment, Dollinger Family Farm, Minooka Relive history with President Lincoln or Colonel Thomas. There are live horses, booming cannons, a spectacular battle scene! Come experience a piece of American History at our "battlefield". You can even see a vintage baseball game. It's a weekend you won't want to miss. See www.dollingerfarms.com/civilwar.htm for more information. |
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